History Through Modern Music
Music: How?
What & Why
Inquiry: How?
...you can get to there from here...
Resources
Historical inquiry = content + cognition tools
A means to help student learn content while developing thinking skills
Stealth learning if done well
Why modern music? Let's be honest: it's a lot more interesting than period music
Inquiry is a skill that needs developing
It's a habit that must be practiced
It begins with student-generated questions
It's rooted in quality primary and secondary sources
Questions are at the root
The Cinderella/LoQ Method
Level 1, 2, 3 questions
Lyrics beg questions
Armed with question-writing skills, students have a model to follow
Teacher-selected resources can serve for initial round of research; students can develop research skills by digging deeper
Our Sample
White man came across the sea
He brought us pain and misery
He killed our tribes, he killed our creed
He took our game for his own need

We fought him hard, we fought him well
Out on the plains, we gave him hell
But many came, too much for Cree
Oh will we ever be set free

Riding through dust clouds and barren wastes
Galloping hard on the plains
Chasing the redskins back to their holes
Fighting them at their own game

Murder for freedom the stab in the back
Woman and children and cowards attack
Write at least two L1s and one L2 per stanza!
Many of their songs are about history, especially military history and war
Insightful commentary on history, people, and politics
Great commentary pieces, and a whole album based on Ayn Rand's 'Anthem'
if you're into literature and dystopias
Well, he's got that one song...although I don't know about the rest of his catalog.
This is my content resource for research, lesson planning, teaching, and student inquiry.
...because history rocks...
jdgypton.edublogs.org
Level 1: Who, What, Where, When
...these seek single facts
Level 2: How, Why
...these dig deeper, seeking process and rationale
Level 3: Any interrogative will do
...divergent questions, seeking trends and connections
My point: have a model the provides students structure
for question-writing...it will help them clarify their thoughts,
and will give you the makings of a rubric to assess them
An example: using the ABC-CLIO databases, I can create a 'Research List'
of primary and secondary sources I've cherry-picked for the subject, to 
ensure that the students will build, for themselves, a solid foundation